Let Them Entertain You

This week’s short-story offering in Beat to a Pulp comes from Paul Newman (no, not that Paul Newman). It’s called “Waking Up from the Big Sleep.” ... For your viewing pleasure, note that more than a dozen episodes of the 1975-1976 Tony Franciosa TV private-eye series, Matt Helm (based loosely on Donald Hamilton’s books and not yet for sale in DVD format), are now available online at Sony’s Crackle site. ... “The Missing Newshawk Caper,” originally broadcast on July 18, 1948, is the latest episode of Howard Duff’s classic Sam Spade radio program worth listening to in Davy Crockett’s Alamanack. ... And I’d forgotten how many now-famous rock bands once appeared on Mike Connors’ 1960s-1970s Mannix series. Chris Well has embedded a few of them in his blog, Crime TV.